Samuel Woodward killed former classmate Blaze Bernstein, but it was not a hate crime, defense lawyer says (2024)

Samuel Woodward stabbed his former high-school classmate Blaze Bernstein to death when the two met up while on winter break in 2018, his defense attorney acknowledged Tuesday morning at the outset of Woodward’s high-profile murder trial, leaving jurors to decide exactly why he carried out the violent killing.

Woodward, now 26, is accused of targeting his former classmate over Bernstein’s sexuality, with Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker flatly stating to an Orange County Superior Court jury that Woodward killed Blaze Bernstein “because he was gay.”

The prosecutor focused much of her opening statements in a Santa Ana courtroom on Woodward’s ties to a neo-Nazi militia group and on a “hate diary” in which he appeared to express an explicit hatred of gay and Jewish people. Among the items shown to the jury were emails in which Woodward wrote about “sodomites” needing to die, as well as a photograph in his possession of a napkin drawing of a knife dripping with blood along with the phrase “texting is boring but murder isn’t.”

“He was doing his research,” Walker said of Woodward’s online interactions with gay individuals. “He was investigating his prey.”

Assistant Public Defender Ken Morrison countered by acknowledging that Woodward killed Bernstein, but denying that it had anything to do with Bernstein’s sexuality or his Jewish heritage.

The defense attorney attacked what he described as the “hyperbolic, sensationalized narrative of ‘Nazi kills gay Jew’ ” surrounding the case.

“Sam Woodward never planned to kill Blaze Bernstein or anyone else,” Morrison told jurors. “What happened that night, plain and simple, was not a hate crime.”

Morrison during his remarks to the jury on Tuesday morning and afternoon did not say what he believed happened between Woodward and Bernstein the night of the killing. But the defense attorney is scheduled to continue his opening statements on Wednesday morning.

Both Woodward and Bernstein were Orange County natives who met each other while going to school at the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana. They apparently agreed to meet up when Bernstein — at the time a pre-med student in his sophom*ore year at the University of Pennsylvania — was staying at his family’s Lake Forest home over winter break.

What started as a headline-grabbing community search for a missing Bernstein ended with the discovery of his body in a shallow grave at the edge of Borrego Park in the Foothill Ranch area of Lake Forest. He had been stabbed more than 20 times, primarily in the neck. Suspicion quickly turned to Woodward, the last person known to have seen Bernstein alive.

In the midst of the search, Woodward had told law enforcement and Bernstein’s family that Bernstein had walked off into the park, telling Woodward that he was going to meet someone else but never returning. He also told police at one point that Bernstein tried to kiss him, but that he pushed Bernstein away, leading Bernstein to apologize.

Among the forensic evidence tying Woodward to Bernstein’s killing was a knife with blood on the tip and handle that was matched through DNA to Bernstein found in Woodward’s bedroom and blood stains matched to both men in Woodward’s vehicle.

During his school days, Woodward — who is on the Autism spectrum — was an outcast and a loner who was known by other students for his conservative views, both the prosecutor and defense attorney told jurors. He grew up in a conservative, religious family with unaccepting views toward hom*osexuality, the attorneys said.

After two semesters at college, they said, Woodward dropped out of school and temporarily moved to Texas to join the Atomwaffen Division, an armed fascist organization who he had connected with online.

Walker, the prosecutor, described Woodward’s decision to join Atomwaffen as an outgrowth of his existing anti-gay and antisemitic views. She alleged that Woodward’s interactions on social media with gay individuals, including Bernstein, were meant to research people he wanted to target.

Data from Woodward’s cell phone from the night of the killing showed him leaving the suspected crime scene, driving back to his Newport Beach home for around an hour, then driving back to the crime scene and spending another hour in the area, the prosecutor added.

“You will see that Blaze fought for his life as best he could,” Walker told jurors, citing apparent defensive wounds on his body.

Morrison, the defense attorney, painted Woodward as a much more conflicted young man, who he argued was wrestling with his own sexual identity.

Woodward’s parents enrolled him at the Orange County School of the Arts after he showed a talent for acting, Morrison said, but his father worried that the “hom*osexuals” at the campus would “reel him in.”

Woodward during his time at the campus often messaged with an openly gay student, Morrisons said. In those messages, Woodward talked about struggling with his sexuality and at times sent nude photos of himself, the defense Morrison said. The other student eventually cut off the communication, feeling conflicted by Woodward’s public conservative views and hom*ophobic comments, the defense attorney added.

Morrison said an Atomwaffen member recruited Woodward online by making him believe he had found a true friend and community that would accept him. Such groups often focus their outreach efforts on young men who have been bullied and ostracized and are perceived to be easily swayed, the defense attorney told jurors.

“These are guys who evoked some strength and confidence and purpose in life,” Morrison said of Woodward’s view of the Atomwaffen members.

Woodward is expected to testify during his trial, his attorney told jurors. But the attorney added that Woodward’s mental condition has undergone “dramatic changes” since his arrest six years ago.

When he talked to police back then, he was “lucid and articulate,” Morrison said, but he is “not at all today.”